Group Meeting - May 2025
Max Hunt gave a presentation on Shelsley Walsh, covering the history of the tiny Parish, the Water Mill, which dates back to 1308 that has now been lovingly restored, the church and of course the world famous hill climb course.
St Andrew’s church has inside it a tomb. We were shown a photograph of it and it really looks like it is made of marble, however it is actually constructed in wood.
The Manor House near the church has a strong connection with the gunpowder plot of 1605. Robert Catesby who was the ringleader met his co-conspirators there. Guy Fox of course was the ‘action man’ whose attempt fortunately failed.
The iron trade in Shelsley Walsh was very important and wood was gathered from the surrounding area within the parish and pig iron was brought up from the Forest of Dean. Shelsley Walsh had a forge and Mr Foley capitalised on that facility and as a result became a very rich man building the nearby Whitley Court. A colossal 30 tonnes of coal were burned each day to heat the house.
Dudley’s mines supplied the coal via barges on the Severn, then by carts to a 1,500 tonne coal stack and on via an underground trolley system to the boiler room under the south portico.
He sold the court to Sir Herbert Smith in 1837 who installed electricity, cut staff levels and failed to maintain the fire hydrants with the result in 1937, while he and his family were away, a fire broke out and destroyed the central and eastern sections. It was never rebuilt.
By 1860 the mill with its overwater wheel was operational and thanks to the restoration work carried out by a small team of volunteers is once again operational and is the only water powered corn mill in Worcestershire. Visit on a Tuesday to see it in action. On the 11th of January 1901, 50 in number ‘Midland Automobilists’ decided to compete with their vehicles along a stretch of road at Gorcott Hill. None other than Herbert Austin was first away, at the wheel of his car and others then followed.
Next in 1905 they were offered Free use of the estate entitled Middle Hill in Broadway, however the cars made quite a mess of the twisting driveway and the competitors were later presented with a repair bill.
Soon after that on August 12th, Montague Taylor offered them the use of Shelsley Walsh. To ensure no cars would be driven up the hill whilst a previous competitor was yet to complete the steep and twisty course, a multi bell system was used with the loudest being bell operated at the top. Males did not have this pleasure to themselves however as ladies were also seen at the wheel of their cars and it was reported that one Dorothy Levitt, a competitor in 1906, gave her fellow female motorists the advice that all you needed in your car was a revolver and a large hand held mirror. (The revolver to ensure your safety on country roads and the mirror to see whether your competitors were gaining on you.) Might this be the first use of ‘the rear view mirror’?
Shelsley Walsh as a competitive venue due to its steep and winding track, was becoming well known across the continent. In1947 a young driver by the name of Stirling Moss applied to be a competitor but was turned down at his first attempt so popular was the venue. After his successes at other venues in 1948 he was on his second application, given a place to drive his Cooper 500 up the hill.
On the 17th June 1932 Shelsley was so well known that the BBC transmitted an outside broadcast covering the action during the afternoon in between football matches and other events. At the time the venue attracted many thousands of spectators who lined the length of the track. Some of the visitors we noticed in the photos we were shown were very close to the action even on bends and in those days a number of the cars had difficulty negotiating the top bend at speed. Suspension and brakes were not sophisticated in those days.
Finally, Mike reminded members that our next meeting will be on Tuesday 2 September and it is our AGM, however we will also have a presentation by Liam Lyons who is a member of the RAF Falcons display team. Come and learn how to prepare for falling out of a perfectly serviceable aeroplane with nothing but a parachute on your back.
Peter McCree
Group Secretary
